Let it Be...

We got off at Clignancourt.

After about 3 hours or so, my gray fingertips became ample proof that I had flipped through a good number of old records. I really quite like that musky dusty smell of those record stores.

That can't be hygenic.

We are always accomodating me. No one else in the family wants to spend their vacation time stepping into one fucking record store after a fucking other. They all look the same anyways. I'm so selfish sometimes.

We were in Camden and here I thought I struck up a good deal. 2 Rolling Stones picture discs, £15 each. The storekeeper even said he'd knock off a good £10 if I got the Led Zeppelin record as well. Deal. Fucking hell, did I just spend £35 on 3 records? I always forget that £15 is a lot more than it sounds. And I'm not going to lie - I only got those 2 picture discs because they looked cool.
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I sat in an empty bus for half an hour - I promised the driver I wouldn't steal his bus while he was on his break. I kept my promise. I have a horrible habit of always getting off one stop too early...so I end up walking a lot more than I need to. I don't mind - I like walking. So I walked 4 hours non-stop from Santa Monica Blvd to Melrose and from San Vicente to La Brea and finally, back to La Cienega. I stopped to ask for directions and, conveniently enough, the person I ask pulls out a map of LA from her bag. I didn't know people carried maps around with them. I probably just got lucky.

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How disappointing. And I heard this was one of the best places for Jazz records in LA. Bullshit. The Miles Davis selection doesn't even fill up its own rack, though, admittedly, the Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto collection was slightly redeeming. I walked out with nothing and continued down Melrose. Didn't even come across a single Rolling Stones or Beatles record for the whole day - not even one of those "Greatest Hits" albums. They had a couple Paul McCartney records...but I don't want those.

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And how out of place I must have looked browsing the racks for The Ramones and The Clash. I think I was the only one in the store who was not dressed in black. And I didn't even catch the name of the program that the filming was for - I was too busy trying to not eat my own hair. I can hear myself now. Talking about restaurants seemed like such a good idea at that time. Fucking Fantastic.

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I'm sitting in that red chair and from there, I can see the open streets. It doesn't bother me though. They went under the sink to put on the Beatles "just for me" and as I sat there listening, it was reminding me that, if this was happening, life can't be that bad at all.

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(Weekend: Clignancourt, Paris)

Cheers Darling

It's in learning about the triviality of things that's what makes it all so funny for me.
Too many people go on about things which won't mean much in the end but they go on and on.

Don't they get tired?

The world really isn't all that complicated. So just sit back, and enjoy the show.

- I can afford to say things because no one believes me anyways.

Coffee and Crossword Puzzles

Please don't blame me if I'm misanthropic.

It's in my blood.

Actually, it's not necessarily that I hate people, I just prefer a little quiet.

I love people. People intrigue me.

But sometimes, I just prefer a little quiet.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying watching the world go by from the sidelines.

There's nothing wrong with feeling tired and weary of the world sometimes.

There's nothing wrong if I'd rather listen to Leonard Cohen than to someone go on about something I really have no interest in.

Don't misunderstand me - I'm not a cynic.

I just prefer a little quiet.

(Michigan Avenue, Chicago and thoughts of Elliott Smith)

Michael Jackson - Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour 1992 (released 2005)

I am not much of a concert album person. In fact, I own only two live albums – both of which I have yet to listen to (and that’s including The Rolling Stones “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” on vinyl…I know, I’m a terrible person for not listening to that album).

The same goes for concert DVDs. I was given the Michael Jackson Ultimate Collection box set two years ago and pretty much ignored the concert DVD which was included in it.

Big Mistake.

The Michael Jackson Live in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour is absolutely fantastic. Sure, Michael Jackson has a strange and creepy personal life but there’s no denying that he is – or, if some of you prefer, WAS – a genius. If you can dance like that for an hour and a half AND sing at the same time without having a respiratory breakdown, you deserve credit. And Michael Jackson definitely deserves that credit.

Of course, I am not trying to claim musical superiority – that I KNOW what makes a good concert and what doesn’t. After all, my own concert-attending-resume hardly puts me in the position to do so: I’ve been to 9 “real” concerts, 3 music festivals, and a happy sum of small local acts. And that, by all accounts, is just plain pitiful. But I DO know what I like and this definitely fits into that exclusive category.

Michael Jackson – ever the box of surprises – starts off the show by exploding onto the stage. Now, for those of you who are still, at this point, wondering whether or not this will be a good concert…HELLO? Michael Jackson just EXPLODED onto the stage…from NOWHERE! Of course this is going to be a fucking good concert! And if you were unimpressed by that explosion, you might as well just turn off the TV right now because NOTHING will ever be good enough to impress you!

I won’t try to hide it: I love Michael Jackson, I love his dancing, I love his singing. So naturally, I loved the whole concert. However, I’m not going to say that the whole concert was absolutely flawless – it was speckled with a number of weird moments but of course, that only made it all the more fun for me to watch. For one, I thought that little piece of fan-girl drama during “She’s Out Of My Life” was absolutely priceless, mainly because the girl was screaming like a crazy woman while Michael Jackson just kept on singing as if the world was still all good. Now THAT’S a performer.

I also liked the guitarist’s get-up in “Beat It”. The Beat It solo is probably one of the most kick-ass moments of Michael Jackson music but I REFUSE to take it seriously when it is played by a guitarist dressed like something from the Disneyland Electrical Light Parade.

In all seriousness though, I did think that “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” was particularly well performed. Of course, things got a bit uncomfortable when vocalist Siedah Garrett joined the stage and started feeling herself up. Back in 1992, Garrett looked really unattractive and, in general, I don’t enjoy watching unattractive people touching themselves. But, she CAN sing…so I guess I’ll just have to turn a blind eye (literally) and just enjoy the music. The things I do for good music.

Eww...SO unappetizing...

Also, I absolutely LOVED the four male backup singer/dancers. So sexy (well, two of them at least). And nothing makes a good concert like grown men in tight costumes dancing like go-go boys at a gay bar. They were like a modern-day Village people – only hotter and much more useful to society.

They make me happy...


I know what you're thinking and no - It's NOT the Power Rangers. It's Michael Jackson and his 'crew'

“Man in the Mirror” is one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs so naturally, I was ecstatic that he chose it as the closer. That performance was definitely the highlight for me and Michael Jackson couldn’t have done better. What’s so great about Michael Jackson is that he’ll put everything into the performance – even when he collapses, he’ll keep on singing. It’s pure musicianship.

And, wow…did Michael Jackson just FLY off the stage? I’m not joking – near the end of Man in the Mirror, they strap him into a spacesuit and he LITERALLY flies off the stage.

But you'd think Michael Jackson would at least deserve a mini-rocket...not just 2 oxygen tanks...

And Ladies and Gentlemen, what more can you ask for in a concert??